Bô & Zin, a glamorous restaurant two miles south of Marrakesh, is the favorite watering hole of the French and Moroccan A-list. Ask for a table in the garden, which is set with oversize mattresses, open fires, torches, and private tents.

Grand Café de la Poste, a Marrakesh brasserie that feels more Southeast Asian than North African, opened in 2006 in a French colonial–era post office. It's been pulling in all the right Marrakshis from morning till night ever since.

Located in a 19th-century riad in the medina, Dar Moha is one of Marrakesh's finest restaurants. The nouvelle Moroccan menu includes flaky pastilla appetizers and tagines, and Gnawa musicians perform nightly.

Jemaa El Fna, the main open space in Marrakesh, is as old as the city itself. It's thronged day and night with a carnival of local life, including snake charmers and Gnawa musicians. At night, the food stalls take center stage.

Riad Noir d'Ivoire, a striking small hotel in Marrakesh's medina, is done with wit and style by British co-owner and decorator Jill Fechtmann. The four guest rooms have enough space for studies, dressing rooms, verandas, and roof terraces.

Located in an 18th-century residence in Marrakesh's medina, Riad Hayati's three guest rooms are decorated with antiques from Syria, Persia, and Ottoman-era Turkey. Meals are prepared by one of the best cooks in Marrakesh.

Led by French designer Jacques Garcia, Moroccan craftsmen worked around the clock tiling, sculpting, and hand-painting La Mamounia (Marrakesh's most famous hotel) before it reopened in 2009. Watch our video to see the dramatic results.

Marrakesh's Riad Meriem sports Tadelakt walls and lighting fixtures from the King's lantern maker. The owner, New York designer Thomas Hays, connects guests with his local contacts for art and antiques shopping.

Kasbah Tamadot, a 1940s casbah turned hotel in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains, is Sir Richard Branson's Moroccan retreat—and it's every bit the North African fantasia you'd build if you, too, were a globe-trotting billionaire.